For instance, on “America’s Next Top Model” young viewers wish to be thin, tall, and overall a model, but go about it in the wrong ways. Shows like theses gives young viewers the impression of being tall and thin is how most people are suppose to look, and if you do not look like that then something has to be wrong with them. Many reality shows make narcissism seems normal; therefore, making young viewers have a mind set of it acceptable to do outrageous things to their bodies to look a certain way and be accepted by society. Not only have narcissistic people affected the younger generation’s perception on appearance, but it has also affected their behavior. Twenge says, “reality TV is very popular, and it is supposed to how ‘real life’ and real behavior without the façade of fictionalized dialogue and story lines.
Consuming Kids. After watching “Consuming Kids,” and hearing the various insights of many industry professionals, it is no doubt in my mind that mass media creates a social reality, and a backwards one. This commercialization of childhood is a lot more than selling just products and services, it’s a society issue which has direct impacts on human development and relationship. This commercialization of childhood involves marketers and advertisers doing everything they can to influence the 52 million kids under 12 that hold a buying power totaling $42 billion dollars a year. The mass media aims and is successful in getting a brand in front of a child’s face 24-7, whether it be through brand licensing, product placement, viral marketing internet, videogames or many other ways.
On average, your brain absorbs more than three thousand internet, television, radio, and street advertisements in one day(Adams par.1). Major corporations have developed strategies to manipulate your behavior without you realizing it. This comes from the advertisement industry. Companies pay psychologist big buck to develop these practices. Through years of intense research on consumers and their children, corporations have identified our decision making processes.
Many alcohol advertisements are placed in different types of media that are popular among adolescent.” They spend billions of dollars in developing an advertisement to capture the publics’ eye, especially the young adolescents. The alcohol industry target a specific group mainly teenagers, but they don’t realize is that all of the colorful effects, the music, and the atmosphere of fun and excitement makes the teenagers want to take a shot or two. At John Hopkins University made a estimate, “the likely effects of several alcohol policies on youth drinking behavior in the U.S. population concluded that a complete ban on alcohol advertising would be the most effective, resulting in 7,609 fewer deaths from harmful drinking and a 16.4% drop in alcohol-related life-years lost.” Banning alcohol commercials can affect the life of young adolescents and adults by not having the influence or the temptation in front of you will decrease the amount of drinking in teens. Commercials have a lot of power over a person’s judgment persuading them to act like different
In “The Merchants of Cool,” the author investigates the rising fascination with teen pop culture. Teenagers are constantly vying for attention, causing them to imitate popular celebrities. Major corporations try to capitalize off this, showing productions and advertisements to influence them further. The era of family friendly programming has no longer any place in primetime television; shows such as Dawson’s Creek and Cruel Intentions have completely infiltrated the TV schedule to reflect teens’ all-consuming fascination with sexuality. One of the major networks responsible for influencing pop culture is MTV, telling kids what’s cool.
Over the course of a child’s lifetime they are exposed to over 40,000 advertisements on television alone. The United States has raised a generation to believe that consumerism is the golden ticket to satisfaction and happiness. Allowing kids to believe this promotes, depression, obesity, materialism, trends and so much more. Kids are taught from the cradle to their grave, brand loyalty. According to a pioneer youth marketer in the documentary Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood, “The consumer embryo begins to develop the first year of existence.
On the negative side it can insulate bad behaviour and attitude among the youth. Children should be encouraged to choose music videos th at are beneficial to them. The majority of music videos fans are teenagers and young adults, who are in an impressionable period of their lives. This can also turn into anti-social behaviour Music videos have been around for years from different culture. There has been a massive change in the music industry.
To Rockler-Gladen, young people today are part of the Generation Y. This is composed of individuals who where born between 1977 and 1997, and are the children of Baby Boomers. According to the author, the media manipulates young people through product placement and advertisements. Young people are buying more products and service because of consumer advertising's influence. Corporations are taking advantage of youth and are creating advertising that impacts their ability to become over consumers.
If a concept is presented as acceptable and “cool” through the use of media then this portrayal is found reflected in the behavior and personality of these individuals. How many times has a kid viewed something in an action scene on television and then shortly after attempted to mimic this event? Nearly every adolescent in school repeatedly quotes humorous lines or phrases from a movie they have recently seen. The media has an astoundingly prodigious affect on today’s youth. Whether it is immoral physical behavior, fighting, or the use of drugs, if this action is made out to be desirable or humorous through the media many teens will seek after or take part in this detrimental action.
Adolescents, teenagers, and children are the age groups that are most prone to being manipulated by movies, propaganda, and advertisements. Large companies like McDonalds pay thousands of dollars to try and get children and adults to come and try their latest menus. They come up with commercials, toys, and even add addictives to make their Celebrities are casted in movies and television programs in order to grab the attention of the viewers and the movies are produced to be as realistic as possible, this is part of the stickiness factor. The attitudes towards famous people in many of the society today are that “they are famous so everything they do has to be correct.” This attitude is definitely wrong yet it is main reason as to why teens are copying actions in the movie and performing it on the streets. Recently, during screening of the new Batman film, a twenty four year old man named James Holmes conducted a real life horror film by shooting everyone near him in the Aurora Colorado movie theaters.